Attachés par leur grandeur au rivage de la Seine... 1850

Curator: This lithograph by Honoré Daumier, created around 1850, is titled “Attachés par leur grandeur au rivage de la Seine...” Editor: What a lively scene! The movement captured here, though static, feels almost frenetic. The tonal range, all grayscale, heightens the caricatured effect and theatrical absurdity. Curator: Exactly. Daumier uses lithography, a printmaking process that allows for incredible detail, to deliver this biting social commentary. He’s pointing towards the wealthy bourgeois, literally tethered as the title suggests, to the banks of the Seine—their power base. Consider how mass media at the time enabled an artist to produce such artworks rapidly. Editor: I’m struck by the figures' gestures, almost balletic yet grotesque. The elongation and exaggeration—it brings to mind Romantic sensibilities through an almost cynical lens. But more particularly, their facial expressions contribute immensely. What can you tell me about Daumier's engagement in politics? Curator: Daumier’s commitment to republicanism definitely shines through, influencing his choice of subject. Here, he's using humor to dismantle social pretenses and the political elite that benefited from the status quo. We see class dynamics illustrated with the musician earning probably far less than those he plays for. Note the marks left behind from the printing, highlighting how its reproducibility served democratic, if radical, beliefs in the means of production. Editor: Indeed. It serves almost as an emblem, but despite the grim aspects and evident flaws of those depicted, the artwork achieves, at least to my eye, some visual harmony, that can be found, especially, in the distribution of tonal weights. Despite the satirical element, Daumier shows true aesthetic finesse here. Curator: His technical mastery served a potent political agenda. Lithography itself played an essential role in circulating these counter narratives and critiquing a corrupted social system, impacting the daily lives of his Parisian audience. Editor: I find it interesting that what might look like a genre scene becomes much more when put into a social perspective, and Daumier has managed to grasp this. Curator: It’s in turning everyday materials and a specific medium into tools for social critique that makes Daumier's art relevant today.